The Alcohol Alert Podcast

This year marks 20 years since the founding of Scottish Health Action on Alcohol Problems (SHAAP), and we sat down with chair Dr Alastair MacGilchrist and founding member Dr Lesley Graham to trace its history – from spotting Scotland’s alcohol death rate spiralling in the early 2000s, to becoming a driving clinical voice behind the world’s first minimum unit pricing law.We hear how SHAAP built the evidence base for MUP, why it took six gruelling years of industry legal challenges before the policy finally came into force, and how that fight – reputationally damaging for the drinks industry – ended up strengthening the case for other countries to follow Scotland’s lead. Along the way: why medical credibility cuts through where campaigning alone doesn’t, and what SHAAP has learned about outlasting a well-resourced opponent.As Dr MacGilchrist puts it:“Everything’s difficult, everything takes a long time, don’t lose heart.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

Why are young people drinking less? 🎵 podcast feature 🎵On this month’s podcast we spoke to Professor John Holmes, University of Sheffield, and Amy Pennay, La Trobe University, about their new book: Young People, Alcohol, and Risk: A Culture of Caution.We discussed the decline in young people's drinking; whether this is continuing into adulthood; factors influencing this decline; and a why this has to be understood as a much broader sociological issue of generational change.“It's about this idea that young people have a very different perspective on the world. This particular generation, that often gets called Gen Z, have a very particular perspective on the world that is quite different to those that have come before them.” – Professor John Holmes. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

In our latest podcast, Dr Megan Cook of La Trobe University discusses alcohol’s overlooked environmental impact. Dr Cook explores how alcohol production exacerbates climate harms, from water scarcity to packaging waste, and highlights the industry's "greenwashing" through corporate social responsibility campaigns. She argues that:"If we reduce alcohol consumption for health reasons, that’s going to have climate benefits. And if we reduce consumption for climate reasons, that’s going to have health benefits too."We also discussed a recent report from the British Beer & Pub Association (BBPA) and Zero Carbon Forum, which looked at the risk of climate change to the UK’s beer production. In a news article publicising the report, it stated that:“Concern was also raised in the report that crops may be prioritised for food rather than brewing, which would risk livelihoods across the supply chain.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

On this month’s podcast we spoke to Tabbin Almond, alcohol-freedom coach and author of the recent book: ‘Bottling Up Trouble: How alcohol is harming your business... and what to do about it’. Tabbin shares insights from her work helping people change their relationship with alcohol. We discussed the pro-alcohol workplace culture, its impact on employees and businesses, and the need for structural change. We also delved into her new podcast, The Alcohol Debate.“We are pretty much the only country in the world where alcohol addiction is not a protected disability. Employers encourage drinking, then punish people when it becomes a problem. That needs to change.” This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

On this month’s podcast we spoke to Will Prochaska, Leader of the Coalition to End Gambling Ads and former Chief Executive of the charity Gambling with Lives. We discussed:* What the gambling world looks like.* The harms associated with gambling.* Why New Labour’s liberalisation of gambling was "one of the worst things we did as a government" according to Alastair Campbell.* The many similarities in how the alcohol and gambling industries behave.* And the pros and cons of a levy on the gambling industry.On the podcast Mr Prochaska said:“The industry would like to present that only those people who are addicted are harmed. But actually, there are a whole host of lower level harms that aren’t given the importance they deserve.”On Wednesday 27 November, after our podcast recording, the government announced that it will introduce a £5 per spin limit to online slots betting for adults 25 and older, and a £2 limit per bet for 18 to 24-year-olds. Gambling minister Baroness Fiona Twycross also said that the government would introduce “the first legally mandated” tax on the betting industry, which will be used to fund research, prevention, and treatment of gambling harm. On Twitter Mr Prochaska said:“Today's announcement of a statutory levy on gambling companies is a hard won step in the right direction, but it must mark the beginning of a full government review of gambling’s place in society." This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

False equivalence and ‘empty rhetoric’ 🎵 podcast feature 🎵The Institute of Alcohol Studies (IAS) was established in 1983 by the United Kingdom Temperance Alliance, UKTA, previously the United Kingdom Alliance. The UKTA changed its name to the Alliance House Foundation (AHF) in 2003, from which IAS receives most of its funding. IAS has always been transparent about its background and funding. There are several other alcohol control organisations that also have historical links to temperance groups.Some representatives of the alcohol industry point to these temperance links as a means of discrediting IAS and like-minded organisations, often alongside accusations of being ‘puritanical’. For instance, in early August this year, the Chief Executive of the industry body The Portman Group stated that a call from IAS and leading alcohol control experts for the government to exclude the alcohol industry from developing health policy was a:“narrow-minded suggestion put forward by an organisation funded by the temperance movement, and it completely fails to take into account the longstanding, tangible work of initiatives funded by the alcohol industry in tackling alcohol harms, encouraging moderation and enforcing responsible marketing.”Implicit in the mentioning of ‘temperance’ is the assumption that those with links to such movements have a conflict-of-interest and therefore should not be listened to, and that temperance was and is a wholly negative approach.In this month’s podcast we spoke to Dr James Kneale, Associate Professor in Geography at University College London, about the history of temperance. We discussed:* The many manifestations of different temperance groups and movements* Why temperance movements emerged in the 19th Century* How they provided alternative public spaces to drinking establishments* The links they often had with working class social movements, including football clubs* The UKA and its links with IAS* And the links between Sporty Spice and temperanceCommenting on the Portman Group highlighting IAS’s temperance links, Dr Kneale stated that:“I do think it’s a lazy word in that kind of context and someone has deliberately weaponised it. I don’t know whether people that read it would have taken it as anything other than the empty rhetoric of a lobbying group. The use of the word temperance is intellectually lazy. But what were [the Portman Group] saying, that they were trying to minimise harm, they were trying to get people to drink responsibly? That’s a temperance argument.“They are thinking that the IAS is a prohibition/teetotal movement, I don’t think it is. I think the Alliance wasn’t entirely that itself. And you are not the Alliance. It’s been a long time since 1853." This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com

On this month's podcast we spoke to Lisa Erlandsen, the Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Alcohol Health Alliance.We discussed reasons to be cautiously optimistic with the new government regarding public health, what could prevent progress from being made, why the alcohol industry needs to be removed from health policy-making, and what the AHA will be focusing its attention on in the coming months. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit instalcstud.substack.com